Municipal governments that oversee the worst housing affordability challenges in Canada also have some of the longest estimated average approval timelines for new building development applications.

Based on a new report by Canadian Home Builders’ Association (CHBA), which commissioned Altus Group Economic Consulting to perform the data analysis, the City of Toronto has the longest estimated average approval timelines amongst 20 major cities evaluated.

In 2022, the weighted average approval timelines in Toronto reached 32 months — a 50% increase 2020’s figure of 21 months.

The City of Vancouver ranked 13th, with an average of 15 months — up from 13 months in 2020.

Within the City of Surrey, average timelines in 2022 were only slightly better at 14 months, up by two months compared to two years earlier.

Although it has one of the longest runways amongst the municipal governments analyzed, the City of Burnaby was one of a handful of the 20 cities that saw improved estimated average approval timelines between 2020 and 2022. Vancouver’s suburban neighbour saw a drop from 27 months in 2020 to 21 months in 2022.

For further contrast, the municipal governments of Calgary and Edmonton, which have endured depressed housing markets over much of the past decade, were provided with estimated average approval timelines of five months and seven months, respectively, in 2022. Edmonton’s figure remained the same from 2020, while Calgary’s timeline more than doubled from five months in 2020.

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